John,

First time I pulled the motor out of my 83 AC, it took me 2 hours... mostly
'tin' time. Putting it back in was much more a PITA. But the lining up was
pretty easy. it only weighs a couple hundred pounds.

The reason you would pull the engine WO transmission is weight/balance. I
suspect it's not hard to do both if you can balance the whole thing on your
floor jack. It's just not hard to pull the motor by itself. The second
time... no wait, I haven't done it a second time. Sometime this spring
perhaps.
Watercooled motors are even easier. Just messier with antifreeze getting all
over everything.

Some advice... read the Bentley, do it just as they say to. Every step.

tim in san jose
 >I never cease to be impressed with all the knowledge and wisdom that
>exists on this list, and I am grateful for the feedback. It would seem
>that I should pull the engine. Rats!
>
>Since I have started the thread, how about some additional requests for
>wisdom?
>
>I was raised on small block chevys. Never been 'inside' a VW flat four. In
>the world of the V8, I learned that doing a valve job on a well worn
>engine would mean that soon I would be doing the rings which I attributed
>to a better seal at the top, which blew away the rings even faster, so I
>always did both at the same time. It would seem this would hold true with
>a VW, but could I be wrong about that?
>
>Would it be easier to leave the tranny (manual) on or off? Lining up the
>input shaft on the V8s was always a bit of a pita, so I always took the
>trans out with the motor.
>
>Much obliged.
>
>John

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